How the Department manages OHS

Health and safety is an issue that affects everyone in the workplace including employees, students, parents, volunteers, contractors and visitors. Effective safety management will help the Department improve employee wellbeing, workplace climate and operations.

The Department's OHS management system (OHSMS) was developed to clarify management of OHS and improve workplace safety for schools and workplaces. The standardised and practical nature of the OHSMS makes it easy to implement and maintain. This will help drive continuous safety improvement by supporting Principals and Managers to deliver improved educational outcomes.

Implementing the OHSMS

It is a requirement that all schools and workplaces fully implement the Department's OHSMS. Implementation will depend on the size and type of school or workplace. A secondary school may have a more complex risk profile than a primary school due to the nature of activities undertaken and is likely to have a greater number of risks to identify and control. This may also require a greater time and resource commitment during initial implementation.

The Employee Safety and Wellbeing Unit has developed a guide which provides a practical, step by step approach to implementation of the Departments OHSMS in schools and workplaces.

The Department's OHS Advisory Service is also available for schools to contact to access practical OHS advice and support. This includes arranging for an OHS consultant to provide onsite assistance with the implementation of the OHSMS and its ongoing management. The OHS Advisory Service can be contacted on 1300 074 715.